Warwickshire’s employment growth doubles the national average

Newly released data provided by the Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) shows that in 2014, an increase of 16,200 workers were employed in Warwickshire, compared to the previous year; equating to 6.3% growth. In contrast, the UK experienced a 3.1% increase in employment, suggesting that Warwickshire has a strong local economy with potential to achieve sustainable growth in the future.

Figure 1: Employment growth by district/borough (2013-14)

*click the picture to enlarge

Source: BRES; ONS

The majority of Warwickshire’s districts and boroughs exceeded the UK average. North Warwickshire in particular, maintained the highest employment growth of 12.6%, nearly doubling the Warwickshire average (6.3%). Stratford is close behind at 10.8%, with Nuneaton & Bedworth achieving the lowest employment growth (1%).

Note: The bubble size reflects the size of employment growth in each area.

Since the 2008 recession, the UK saw a growing trend in temporary work such as part-time and self-employment, as many businesses were forced to cut their workforce and people struggled to find full-time jobs. The chart above illustrates a general increase in full-time employment compared to those working part-time; implying that the economy has accelerated its recovery. Figures 1 and 2 highlight North Warwickshire’s growing labour market; driven mostly by 15% growth in full-time workers. Stratford experienced the largest increase in part-time employment of 7%. Rugby reached similar levels of growth as the UK and the West Midlands region. However, Nuneaton & Bedworth saw a 1% drop in full-time employment; which may affect future working families and their household incomes if people continue to work fewer hours.

What else could affect employment patterns in Warwickshire?

There are other factors to consider which will influence employment in Warwickshire and our districts/boroughs:

1. Employment clusters: increased employment in low-skilled occupations is a key driver of poor productivity growth, since the employment sectors tend to be small GVA industries with relatively flat wage growth. On the other hand, employment clusters in knowledge-intensive sectors which produce high GVA (output), will increase productivity and long term growth.

2. Full-time job creation: for full-time employment to maintain growth in the future, more full-time jobs need to be created in the labour market; so that residents do not have to switch to temporary work.

3. Business growth: a high business density and attracting inward investment leads to increased employment in the future, as firms provide job opportunities to the local area. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in particular, are innovative and big contributors to growth; providing key local knowledge and various types of jobs (including graduate and apprenticeship roles) in emerging sectors